JPH03195672A - Document feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operating efficiency and to simplify the peripheral structure of a document storing portion by providing the second document reversing means for reversing the transport direction without reversing the surface and back of a document to return a document to a document storing portion on the downstream side of the second guide member in the document transport direction. CONSTITUTION:A document D is fed from one end of the lowermost portion of documents D stored in a document storing portion 35 and transported, and guided to the first read area 25 by the first guide member 24 to read one surface of the document D. The indication and the transport direction of the document D are reversed by the first document reversing means 53. Then, the document is transported to the second guide member 27 and guided to the second read area 28 to read the other side of the document D. After completion of reading, the document D is transported to the second document reversing means 60, the transport direction of the document D is reversed without reversing the surface and back of the document, and returned from the other end of the uppermost portion of the documents D stored in the document storing portion 35. Accordingly, the direction indicated by the surface and back of documents D stored in the document storing portion is always the same.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an original document feeding device that is used in, for example, an electrostatic copying machine, and is used to sequentially supply seed-like original documents to a reading area.

Conventional technology Traditionally, for example, electrostatic copying machines, etc.
In optical reading devices that optically read the surface of a document by exposing it to a slit, there are two methods: a first exposure mode in which the document is fixed and the optical system is moved to perform reading exposure, and a first exposure mode in which the optical system is fixed and the document is moved to perform reading exposure. A second exposure R is provided. In the second exposure mode, the circulation type document feeding device automatically feeds the sheet documents one by one to the reading area and returns the sheet documents to the original position after exposure for reading. (hereinafter referred to as r RD HJ) may be used.

FIG. 4 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a conventional RD H1. RDHI, which is a typical prior art, includes a document storage section 3 that stacks and stores sheet-like documents 2 to be copied;
a right cylindrical support tube 5 that supports and passes through the reading area 4;
Then, a conveyance path 6 for transporting the original from the original storage section 3 to the reading area 1 and a transport path 6 for transporting the original from the reading area 4 to the original storage section 3 are provided.
and a document transport path 8 consisting of a transport path 7 for returning to the original document. Documents 2 stacked and stored in the document storage section 3 for copying are reliably conveyed one by one to the conveyance path 6 from the top by a paper feed roller 9. The document 2 conveyed along the conveyance path 6 is supported by the support tube 5 and passes over a transparent plate 10 made of hard glass or the like provided in the reading area 4.

The surface of the original 2 passing over the transparent plate 10 is irradiated with light from an exposure lamp of an optical system (not shown), an image of the original is read, and a copying operation is performed within the body of the copying machine.

The original 2 whose one surface has been read is transported along the transport path 7 and is stored at the bottom of the originals 2 stacked and stored in the original storage section 3 .

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Every time the original 2 is supplied from the original storage unit 3 and returned to the bottom of the original storage unit 3 via the reading area 4, the surface of the returned original 2 is not fed. When stored, the front and back sides are reversed.

That is, when the document 2 is fed from the document storage section 3,
One surface of the document 2, which was facing upward in FIG. 4, is stored facing downward in FIG. 4 when it is stored in the document storage section 3 again via the reading area 4. This R
Copying a double-sided original having information to be copied on both sides using the D H1 onto each surface of copy paper corresponding to each original;
When so-called double-sided copying is performed, first one side is read and returned to the document storage section 3, and the direction in which the front and back sides of the stacked documents 2 are displayed is the same as when they were stored before copying starts. The document 2 is stored with its front and back sides reversed relative to the direction in which they are displayed. Therefore, for example, when a paper jam occurs in the transport path 6 after the document 2 is fed again from the document storage section 3 in order to subsequently read the other surface that has not yet been read, the document that caused the paper jam 2
When returning the document 2 to the document storage section 3 again, the user does not notice that the direction in which the front and back sides of the document 2 are displayed is reversed from the direction in which the front and back sides of the document 2 are displayed when the document 2 is first stored. 2 may be stacked again and thus the wrong surface may be copied, resulting in poor handling.

Further, according to the conventional RDHI configuration, the original 2 is always fed from the right side of the bottom of the original 2 stacked in the original storage section 3 in FIG. The original 2 is returned to the original storage section 3 from the right side of the bottom of the original 2. Therefore, since the document feeding structure to the conveying path 6 and the document storing structure from the conveying path 7 are biased toward one side (the right side (Ill) in FIG. 4) of the document storage section 3, the document The structure on one side of the storage section 3 becomes complicated.

Further, in the RD H1, the document storage section 3 has a so-called top-take-bottom return structure in which the document 2 is fed from the top and returned to the bottom. The configuration for returning the document 2 to the bottom of r1 stacked documents generally tends to be complicated in terms of accuracy. That is, by making the document storage section 3 have a top-up/bottom-return structure, the structure around the document storage section is also complicated.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to ensure that during a copying operation, the direction in which the front and back sides of the originals stored and stacked in the document storage section are displayed is always the same as the direction in which the front and back sides of the originals are displayed when they are first stored. Another object of the present invention is to provide a document feeding device which can further simplify the structure around the document storage section.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a document storage unit that supplies a sheet-like document from one end of the lowest part and returns it from the other end of the first part, and one surface of the document supplied from the document storage unit. a first guide member that guides the original to a first reading area for reading the other surface of the original; a second guide member that guides the original to a second reading area for reading the other surface of the original; a first document reversing means provided between the second guide member and reversing the display and conveying direction of the document; and a first document reversing means provided on the downstream side of the document conveying direction with respect to the second guide member and not reversing the document display. Reverse the document transport direction,
The document feeding device includes a second document inverter stage for returning the document to the document storage section.

According to the present invention, in the document feeding device that conveys a sheet-like document in order to read its surface, the document is first fed and conveyed from one end of the bottom of the document stored in the document storage section. The fed document is guided by the first guide member to the first guide member.
It is guided to the reading area, and one side of the document is read. The document whose one surface has been read in the first reading area is reversed in display and conveyance direction by the first document reversing means, and is conveyed to the second guide member. The original is guided to the second reading area by a second guide member, and the other surface of the original is read. The original that has been read is transported to the second original reversing means, the transporting direction of the original is reversed without reversing the front and back of the original, and the original is returned from the other end of the uppermost part of the original stored in the original storage unit.

Therefore, the directions in which the front and back sides of the documents stored in the document storage section are always displayed are the same. In addition, in the vicinity of the document storage section, a structure for feeding the document and a structure for returning the document are configured to face each other with the document storage section in between, and a trade-in top-return structure is also formed, which makes the area around the document storage section complicated. Never.

Embodiment 1 (2I is a simplified cross-sectional view of a circulating automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as rRDHJ) 20 which is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a transfer type electrostatic document feeder equipped with RD H20 2 is a simplified sectional view of a type copying machine 21. On the upper part of the body 22 of the transfer type electrostatic copying machine 21, there is an RDH 20 for reading a sheet-like original and a cover for covering a thick original such as a book. A thick document pressing plate 23 is provided.

Further, a first transparent plate 26 for a first reading area 25 is provided on the upper part of the body 22 at a position facing the lower part of the first guide member 24 that transports the original in the RDH 20. A second transparent plate 29 for the second reading area 28 is provided at a position facing the lower part of the second guide member 27. Furthermore, a third transparent plate 31 is provided at the upper part of the body 22 at a position facing the thick original pressing plate 23 for a third reading area 30 for reading thick originals.

When copying sheet-like originals, the sheet-like originals are stored in a stack in a document storage section 35 provided in the RDH 20. This document storage section 35 has side walls 36a, 3
6b and a bottom plate 37.
In a, an opening 38 is formed on the lower side in the stacking direction of original documents (lower (1 m) in Fig. 1), and the conveyance start openings 40 of the three conveyance paths through which the original documents are fed after being fed are adjacent to each other. On the upper side of the side wall 36b in the stacking direction of the document trays, there is provided a transport path 1 through which the read document trays are conveyed in order to return the document trays to the document storage section 35 as described later.
Two conveyance end ports 43 are provided adjacent to each other.

The bottom plate 37 forms a gentle recess 44, and a paper feed roller 45 for feeding a document tray contacts the lowest document Do of the stacked document trays to perform a paper feeding operation. The document DO at the bottom moves along the conveyance path 3 with multiple document sheets.
Even when the sheets are guided to the conveyance start port 40 of No. 9, a sorting operation is performed using a sorting roller (not shown) to ensure that the sheets are separated one by one and conveyed to three conveyance paths.

The document conveyed to the conveyance path 39 is conveyed to the first guide member 24. The first guide member 24 is arranged on a first curved guide plate 33 disposed opposite to the first transparent plate 26 and on an upstream side in the conveyance direction and a downstream side in the conveyance direction with respect to the first curved guide plate 33. It is configured to include a plurality of conveyance rollers (not shown). The curved guide plate 33 is a plate-shaped body made of, for example, iron and is formed in a curved manner along the conveyance path, and has a gap 1 formed between it and the first transparent plate 26.
1 is selected to be approximately 1 m11 as an interval through which the original document can pass.

When the original document is conveyed to the first guide member 24, it is guided by the conveyance roller and the like, and is guided through the gap! 1 and passes over the first transparent plate 26 in the first reading area 25 .

When the document passes through the first transparent plate 26, the light from the exposure lamp 48 of the optical system (see FIG. 2) provided near the first reading area 25 is emitted.

The light is irradiated onto one surface of the N document sheets passing through, and the one surface of the document sheet is read by the photoreceptor 321 through the optical system 47 and exposed.

The document whose one surface has been read is transported to four transport paths. Conveyance rollers 50 and 51 are provided on the four conveyance paths, and when the conveyance roller 51 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow 52, the conveyance roller 50 in contact with the conveyance roller 51 moves in the opposite direction of the arrow 52. Rotate in the direction. The document conveyed to the conveyance diameter ii'849 by the conveyance rollers 50.degree. 51 is conveyed to the first document reversing means 53.

In the first document reversing means 53, seven document sheets having a direction changing wind 54 and a transport roller (not shown) capable of forward and reverse rotation are transported from a transport path 49 to a transport path 55 of the first document reversing means 53. During this time, the direction changing wind 54 is set at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. When the upstream end in the conveyance direction of the original document conveyed to the conveyance path 55 of the first document reversing means 53 passes through the direction changing wind 54, the original document is returned from the conveyance path 55 to the four conveyance paths by a conveyance roller (not shown). At the same time that the document starts to be conveyed, the direction changing claw 54 is switched from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. By passing through the first document reversing means 53, in the second reading area 28 provided as described later,
The surface of the document that is read and exposed becomes the other surface of the document that has not yet been read in the first reading area 25 that has already passed.

The conveyance path 56 has a conveyance roller 51 and a conveyance roller 57. Since the conveyance roller 51 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow 52, the conveyance roller 57 that is in contact with the conveyance roller 51 moves in the direction of the arrow. The original document conveyed to the conveyance path 56 by the conveyance rollers 51 and 57 is conveyed to the second guide member 27.

The second guide member 27 has, for example, a similar structure to the first guide member 24, and includes a second curved guide plate 34 and a plurality of conveyance rollers (not shown). The second curved guide plate 34 is a second transparent plate 2 in the second reading area 28.
The gap 12 between the second curved guide plate 34 and the second transparent plate 29 is selected to be approximately the same as the gap 11 in the first guide member 24. The document conveyed from the first document reversing means 53 to the second guide member 27 passes over the second transparent plate 29 in the second reading area 28 via the gap 12 by the conveyance roller. The light from the exposure lamp 18 is irradiated onto the other surface of the original document passing over the two second transparent plates in the second reading area 28, and is read and exposed onto the photoreceptor 32 through the optical system 47. .

The document whose other surface has been read is transported to five transport paths.

A second document reversing means 6 is provided on the downstream side of the five conveyance paths in the conveyance direction.
0 is set. The second document reversing means 60 includes a right cylindrical support tube 61 and a direction changing airflow 62. For example, a suction port (not shown) is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the support 861, and a suction means is connected to the inside of the support tube 61. In this manner, by driving the suction means, the document conveyed is closely supported on the outer peripheral surface of the support cylinder 61 and conveyed. Furthermore, the support tube 61 has a structure that can be driven in forward and reverse rotation, and has a function of reversing the conveying direction of the document.

The document conveyed to the second document reversing means 60 via the conveyance path 59 is conveyed in close contact with a support cylinder 61 which is rotationally driven in the direction of an arrow 63. While the document is conveyed in the direction of arrow 63 in close contact with the support cylinder 61, the direction changing air 62 is set at the position shown by the solid line in FIG.

When the upstream side of the document being conveyed in the conveyance direction passes through the direction changing wind 62, the support cylinder 61 begins to be rotated in the opposite direction of the arrow 63. Since the support cylinder 61 is rotated in the opposite direction and the direction change air 62 is switched from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1 to the position shown by the imaginary line, the support cylinder 6]
The original document that was in close contact with the third support tube 61 is separated from the third support tube 61 by the tip of this direction changing wind 62 and is conveyed to the conveyance path 42. Therefore, by passing through the second document reversing means 60, only the direction in which the document is conveyed is reversed, but the direction in which the document is displayed is not reversed.

The document conveyed to the conveyance path 42 is stored in the document storage section 3.
5, and from the conveyance end 043 of the conveyance path 42, the documents are returned to the top of the document tray stacked and stored in the document storage section 35 and stored therein. When the original document is conveyed as described above, even before the document is fed from the document storage section 35, or even when the reading operation is performed after the document is fed and the document is returned to the document storage section 35 and stored again. Even if there is, the directions displayed on the front and back sides of the document always face in the same direction.

Therefore, even if a paper jam occurs during transport, the original paper that caused the paper jam will be placed in the same front and back positions as when it was first stored at the bottom of the stack of originals in the document storage section 35. All you have to do is place it again in the direction shown, improving operability.

Further, in the vicinity of the document storage section 35, a paper feeding structure for feeding the document sheet from the document storage section 35 and a storage structure for returning the document sheet to the document storage section 35 and storing the document sheet are connected to the document storage section 35. Don't lean to one side.

Since they are provided at positions facing each other with respect to the document storage section 35, the configuration on one side of the document storage section 35 does not become complicated, and the periphery of the document storage section 35 is simplified. Further, since the paper feeding structure and the storage illumination structure form a so-called trade-in top-return structure, the structure around the document storage section 35 is also simplified.

As described above, the first reading area 25 and the second reading area 28
When the surface of the document to be read is irradiated with light from the exposure lamp 48 of the optical system 47 or in the third reading area 30 for thick documents, the light reflected from the surface of the document is reflected by the optical system 47. , is imaged at an exposure area 66 on the photoreceptor 32 via a light path 65. The optical system 47 includes an exposure lamp 48, reflecting mirrors 67, 68, 69. zoom lens 70
, and a reflecting mirror 71.

The photoreceptor 32, which is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow 72, is first charged by the main corona discharger 73 and then charged by the optical system 48 as described above to each reading area 25, 28, 3.
The image corresponding to the surface of the document read at 0 is the exposure area 66.
An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the surface of the document is formed. The formed electrostatic latent image is developed into a toner image by the developing device 74. This toner image is cassette 7
The image is transferred by a transfer corona discharger 78 onto a copy sheet P that is fed from the paper feed roller 76 and conveyed to a conveyance path 77 .

In FIG. 2, in addition to the cassette 75, cassettes 79, 80.degree. 81, etc., for storing copy paper P are provided. Copy sheets P having different sizes are stored in each cassette 79, 80, 81, and are transported to the transport path 77 by paper feed rollers 82, 83, 84 according to the purpose, and then subjected to copying operation. will be held.

The copy paper P after the transfer is transferred to the fixing image forming unit 8 by the conveying means 85.
6 and is fixed. When copying only onto one surface of the copy paper P, so-called one-sided copying, a first direction changing claw 88, which is a part of a copy reversing means 87 to be described later, is set at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. Therefore, the fixed copy paper P is conveyed to the conveyance path 90 by the conveyance roller 89, and then discharged to the discharge tray 91. In addition, when copying on both sides of the copy paper P, so-called double-sided copying, is performed, in order to perform the copying operation on the other surface that has not yet been copied, the copy paper P that has completed the copying operation on one surface is The copy sheet is not discharged to the discharge tray 91 but is conveyed to the copy sheet reversing means 87.

The copy paper reversing means 87 includes a first direction changing pawl 88, a second direction changing pawl 92a, a third direction changing pawl 92b, and a pair of conveyance rollers 93 and 94 that can rotate in forward and reverse directions.

The first direction changing pawl 88 and the second direction changing pawl 92a are the second direction changing pawl 88 and the second direction changing pawl 92a.
Since the copy paper P is set at the position shown by the imaginary line in the figure, the copy paper P on which the copying operation on one surface has been completed is transported along the conveyance path 95.95.
transported to.

The copy paper P conveyed to the conveyance path 96 by the conveyance roller 93 is further conveyed to the conveyance path 97 since the third direction changing claw 92b is set at the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. When the upstream end in the conveyance direction of the copy paper P being conveyed to the conveyance path 97 passes the third direction stirring pawl 92b, the conveyance roller 94 is rotationally driven in the direction of returning the copy paper P to the direction of the conveyance path 96. The third direction changing claw 92b is
Since the position is switched to the position shown by the solid line in the figure, the copy paper P is transported from the transport path 97 to the transport path 98.

The copy paper P conveyed to the conveyance path 98 is discharged to the intermediate tray 100 by the discharge roller 99 .

The copy paper P stored in the intermediate tray 100 is fed again by the paper feed roller 101 and is conveyed to the photoreceptor 32 via the conveyance path 102.77, where it is copied onto the other surface that has not yet been copied. An action is taken. The copy paper P, on which the double-sided copying operation has been completed by the above-described operation, is again copied and conveyed to the reversing means 87. The first direction changing claw 88 and the second direction changing claw 92a of the copy paper reversing means 87 are connected to the second direction changing claw 88 and the second direction changing claw 92a.
Since it remains set at the position indicated by the imaginary line in the figure, the conveyed copy paper P is conveyed to the conveyance paths 95 and 96.

When the upstream end in the conveyance direction of the copy paper P conveyed to the conveyance path 96 passes through the second direction changing claw 92a,
Since the conveyance roller 93 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction and the second direction changing claw 92a is switched to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. After that, the output tray 9
1. Note that when the front and back display directions of the copy paper P discharged to the output tray 91 are not considered, the copy paper P on which the double-sided copying operation has been completed is moved by the first direction changing claw 88 of the copy paper reversing means 87. By switching to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the paper may be directly ejected to the ejection tray 91.

FIG. 3 is a simplified sectional view of the transfer electrostatic copying machine 21 for explaining the operation of double-sided copying of a double-sided original, and shows the operation when two originals Da and Db are double-sided copied. ing. In the following description, when referring to the surface of a document, the subscript a represents the first document, and the subscript s represents the second document. Also, the subscripts of numbers 1 to 4 represent the page numbers of a set of stacked manuscripts. For example, the first page of the first manuscript is D.
In the same way, when the surface of the copy paper P is described, the suffixes a, b and suffixes 1 to 4 are also used.

Reference numbers for original paper and copy paper P with the same suffix indicate the surface of the original paper to be read and the surface of copy paper P on which the surface of the original paper to be read has been copied. have a relationship.

For convenience, numbers representing the page numbers are written on the front surface of each manuscript in the drawings, and white triangular symbols are especially written on the surfaces of even-numbered pages.

Further, on the surface of each copy sheet P on which copying has been completed, a number indicating the surface of the original that has been read is written, and in particular, a black triangle symbol is written on the surface of odd-numbered pages. Also,
When describing the original paper and the copy paper P in general, the subscripts will be omitted.

Two original vi! In order to make double-sided copies of %Da and Db, the originals Da and Db are r(DH
The documents are stacked and stored in the document storage section 35 in the document storage section 20 so that the number of pages increases sequentially from top to bottom. Further, the copy sheets P are stored in a stack in a cassette 75 inside the machine body 22.

When the double-sided copying operation starts, as shown in Figure 3 (2),
The second document Db at the bottom of the document tray stacked on the document storage section 35 is transferred to the conveyance path 3 by the paper feed roller 45.
9. The second document Db conveyed to the conveyance path 39 passes through the first reading area 25 via the first guide member 24 . In the first reading area 25, the second original DI)
One surface of the third page Db3 is irradiated with light from the exposure lamp 48. The reflected light reflected on the surface of the third page Db3 of the second original forms an image on the photoreceptor 32, and the third page Db3 of the second original
An II'% latent image corresponding to b3 is formed.

The toner image in which this electrostatic latent image is visualized is transferred onto one surface of the second copy paper pb, which is conveyed from the cassette 75 to the conveyance path 77 by the paper feed roller 76.

In the first reading area 25, the second original mDb from which the third page Db3 has been read passes through the first original reversing means 53, and then
It passes through the second reading area 28 via the second guide member 27 .

In this second reading area 28, no reading operation is performed, and the second document Db is reversed in its conveyance direction via the second document reversing means 60, and passed through the conveyance path 42 to the second document Db stored in the document storage section 35. 1 The original document Da is returned to the top and stored. When the second original Db passes through the first reading area 25, the third page Db3E that has been read and the second copy paper pb that has been copied on one surface passes through the conveying means 85 and then passes through the copy paper reversing means 8.
7 and is stored in the intermediate tray 100.

After the second document Db is stored in the document storage section 35, the first document Da is fed by the paper feed roller 45 and conveyed to the conveyance path 39, as shown in FIG. 3(3). The first document Da that has been conveyed to the three conveyance paths passes through the first reading area 25 via the first guide member 24 . In the first reading area 25, the light from the exposure lamp 47 is irradiated onto the surface of the first page Dal, which is the surface of the first document Da. 1st manuscript 1st Da
The reflected light reflected from the surface of 1 forms an image on the photoreceptor 32, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the first page Dal of the first original is formed. The toner image in which the electrostatic latent image is visualized is stored in the cassette 7.
A conveyance path 77 through which paper is fed by a paper feed roller 76 from 5
The image is transferred onto one surface of the first copy paper Pa that has been conveyed to.

The first document Da, whose first page Dal has been read in the first reading area 25, passes through the first document reversing means 53 and passes through the second reading area 28 without being read, similarly to the second document Db. , then the second document reversing means 60 and the transport path 4
2, the document is returned to and stored above the second document Db stored in the document storage section 35, as shown in FIG. 3(4). As mentioned above, the two originals Da and Db that are stored in the original storage section 35 again after the reading operation are stacked in such a way that the number of pages increases from top to bottom in the same way as when they were first stored. be weighed down. In the first reading area 25, the first
The first Wt copy paper Pa, on which the first page Dal of the original has been copied on one surface, passes through the conveyance means 85 and is transferred to the second copy paper P stored in the intermediate tray 100 via the copy paper reversing means 87.
They are stacked and stored on top of b. The copy papers Pa and Pb stored in the intermediate tray 100 are arranged in order from the bottom to the second copy paper P.
b, first copy paper Pa, and each copy paper Pa.

The surfaces on which the pb copies have been completed are stacked so that they face upward in FIG. 3(4).

When the first document Da is returned and stored in the document storage section 35, the second document Db is again fed by the paper feed roller 45 and conveyed to the conveyance path 39. The second document Db that has been conveyed to the three conveyance paths is conveyed to the first document reversing means 53 without being read in the first reading area 25 . The second document Db, which has passed through the first document reversing means 53 and has been inverted, passes through the second guide member 27 and enters the second reading area 2, as shown in FIG. 3(5).
Pass 8. The second original D in the second reading area 28
4'i[] which is the other unread surface of b
On the surface of Db4, from the first reading area 25 to the second reading area 2
The light from the exposure lamp 48 that has been moved to 8 is irradiated.

The reflected light reflected from the surface of the fourth page Db4 of the second original forms an image on the photoreceptor 32, forming an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the surface of the fourth page Db4 of the second original. The second copy paper pb, which has already been copied on one surface and is at the bottom of the copy papers P stacked on the intermediate tray 100, is fed by the paper feed roller 101, and is exposed to light through the conveyance path 102.77. body 32
transported upwards. The toner image, which is a visualized electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor 32, is transferred to the other uncopied surface of the second copy paper pb that has been conveyed to the photoreceptor 32.

The second document Db whose fourth page Db4 has been read in the second reading area 28 is conveyed to the conveyance path 42 via the second document reversing means 60 and is placed above the first document Da stored in the document storage section 35. It is returned and stored. Further, the second copy paper pb, on which both sides have been copied, is reversed by the copy paper reversing means 87 and then discharged to the discharge tray 91 via the conveyance path 90.

When the second document Db is returned and stored in the document storage section 35, the first document Da is again fed by the paper feed roller 45 and conveyed to the conveyance path 39. The first document Da conveyed to the conveyance path 39 passes through the first reading area 25 without being read, like the second document Db described above, and passes through the first reading area 25 without being read.
The document is conveyed to the document reversing means 53. First original reversing means 53
The first document Da, which has passed through and been reversed, passes over the second reading area 28 via the second guide member 27, as shown in FIG. 3(6). In the second reading area 28, the light from the exposure lamp 48 is irradiated onto the surface of the second page Da2, which is the other surface of the first document Da that has not been read yet. 1st manuscript page 2 Da
The reflected light reflected from the surface of the second document forms an image on the photoreceptor 32, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the surface of the second page Da2 of the first original is formed. Copying has already been completed on one side, and the middle tray 1
The first copy paper Pa stored in the paper feed roller 1
01, and is conveyed onto the photoreceptor 32 via a conveyance path 102.77. The toner image in which the electrostatic latent image corresponding to the second page Da2 of the first document is visualized on the photoreceptor 32 is transferred to the other surface of the first copy paper Pa that has not been copied yet. be done.

In the second reading area 28, the first document Da from which the second page Da2 has been read is conveyed to the conveyance path n42 via the second document reflection means 60, and thereafter, as shown in FIG. The document is returned to and stored above the second document Db stored in the storage area 35. Further, the first copy paper Pa, which has completed copying on both sides, is reversed by the copy paper reversing means 87, and then passed through the conveyance path 90 to the second copy paper stacked on the discharge tray 91.
It is discharged onto the top of the copy paper pb.

The above-described operation completes the double-sided copying operation of the two documents Da and Db. Therefore, the first page Da1 of the first manuscript is copied on one surface of the obtained first copy paper Pa, the second page Da2 of the first manuscript is copied on the other surface, and one side of the second copy paper Pb is copied. The third page Db3 of the second original is copied on one front side, and the fourth page Db4 of the second original original is copied on the other side.

After double-sided copying is completed, the document tray is stored in the document storage section 35 so that the number of pages increases sequentially from top to bottom, and has the same arrangement as in the stored state when starting the copying operation. ing. Therefore, it is possible to perform the copying operation again, and it is also possible to take out the copy in the same state as when it was first stored. On the other hand, the copy paper P is placed on the output tray 9.
1, the pages are stored so that the number of pages increases sequentially from top to bottom.

FIG. 3(8) shows a state in which double-sided copying of two originals Da and Db has been performed again from the state shown in FIG. 3(7). Therefore, since the operations shown in FIG. 3 (1) to (7) are repeated twice, the two copy sheets Pa and
Two sets of Pb are separated and stacked. That is, by repeating the operations shown in FIGS. 3(1) to 3(7) multiple times, a plurality of sets of separated copy sheets can be obtained.

In this embodiment, a copying operation 1t in which double-sided copying is performed from a single-sided original is explained. However, other copying operations, i.e., single-sided copying from a double-sided original, single-sided copying from a single-sided original,
Further, double-sided copying from a single-sided original can also be performed, which will be briefly explained with reference to FIG. When performing single-sided copying from a so-called double-sided original, in which each side of one double-sided original is copied onto one side of each of two sheets of copy paper,
The document sheets are freely stacked and stored in the document storage section 35. After the document at the bottom is fed, one surface is read in the first reading area 25 and the other surface is read in the second reading area 28. Further, when one surface or the other surface of the original is copied onto one surface of the copy paper P, the copy paper P is immediately discharged to the discharge tray 91.

In addition, when performing one-sided copying from a one-sided original that has information that should be copied only on one side of the copy paper, which is a so-called one-sided original that has information that should be copied only on one side of the copy paper, the original toward the top of the 2121st,
The documents are stacked and stored in the document storage section 35. After being fed from the document storage section 35, the document tray at the bottom is placed in the first reading area 2.
5, one of the surfaces to be read is read;
Thereafter, the document passes through the second reading area 28 without being read, and is returned to the top of the document tray stored in the document storage section 35 and stored therein. Also, on one surface of the copy paper P, a first
When the surface of the document sheet read in the reading area 25 is copied, the copy sheet P is immediately discharged to the discharge tray 23.

Furthermore, when duplex copying is performed from a so-called single-sided original, in which two single-sided originals are copied onto each surface of one sheet of copy paper, the original paper is placed in the original storage section 35, and the front side of the original paper that is to be read is placed on the first side of the original paper. They are stacked and stored upwards in Figure 2. In the stored document tray, the odd-numbered document from the bottom is defined as a first document Da, and the even-numbered document from the bottom is defined as a second document Db. If you wish to write a general statement, please use the original manuscript.

After the document is fed, one surface of the document to be read is read in the first reading area 25 and passes through the second reading area 28 without being read. After completing the reading operation, the document tray is returned to the top of the document tray stored in the document storage section 35 and stored therein. The copy paper P also has a first original D on one surface.
After the surface to be read of a is copied, the copy sheet is stored in the intermediate tray 100 via the copy sheet reversing means 87. After that, the copy paper P is again fed from the intermediate tray 100, and the surface to be read of the second document Db that was read in the first reading area 25 following the first document Da is copied on the other surface, and then the copy paper P is ejected. It is discharged onto the tray 91.

Note that in the copy paper P that has been copied onto both sides, the up and down directions of the display on the front and back surfaces are opposite to each other.

The relationship between the display direction of the front and back sides of the original document in the document storage section and the display direction of the front and back sides of the copy paper in the output tray is not limited in this embodiment, and the reading area 25.2
The combination can be changed depending on the reading order in 8 and the use of copy paper reversing means 87.

Further, in this embodiment, the configuration of the curved guide plate and the conveyance roller is described as a guide member that guides the document to the reading area, but the configuration of the guide member is not limited in this embodiment. For example, the support tube 61
The document may be guided to the reading area using a configuration similar to that of
Note that by adopting the configuration of the curved guide plate in this way, a complicated configuration such as a support tube is not required.

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, during a copying operation, the directions in which the front and back sides of the original stored in the original storage unit are displayed are always constant. Therefore, when a document jams or the like occurs during the document transport path, the direction in which the front and back sides are displayed when the jammed document is placed again in the document storage section is as follows:
The orientation may be the same as when the original is initially stored in the original storage unit, and as a result, undesired surfaces are not copied, and operability is improved.

In addition, around the document storage section, the structure for feeding and storing documents is not biased to one side of the document storage section, and is configured on both sides of the document storage section, so the document storage Furthermore, the structure around the original document storage section is also simplified by making the original document storage section a trade-in, top-back-fil structure.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a simplified configuration of an RDH 20 that is an embodiment of the present invention, the second section is a simplified cross-sectional view of a transfer electrostatic copying machine 21 equipped with the RDH 20, and FIG. 3 is a double-sided A simplified cross-sectional view of the transfer type electrostatic copying machine 21 for explaining the operation of double-sided copying of a document, FIG. 4 is a conventional RDHI
FIG. 20... Circulating automatic document feeder (RDH), 24...
...First guide member, 25...First reading area, 27...
・Second guide member, 28...Second reading area, 35...
Manuscript storage section, 39.42.49, 55, 56.59...
- Conveyance path, 53...first document reversing means, 54.62
・Direction change type, 60 ・Second document reversing means, 61・
・Support tube

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A document storage unit that supplies a sheet-shaped document from one end at the bottom and returns it from the other end at the top; and a first document storage unit for reading one surface of the document supplied from the document storage unit. a first guide member that guides the document to a reading area; a second guide member that guides the document to a second read area for reading the other surface of the document; and between the first guide member and the second guide member. a first document reversing means provided on the downstream side of the document conveyance direction with respect to the second guide member, which reverses the document conveyance direction without reversing the document display; death,
and a second document reversing means for returning the document to the document storage section.